Ringwraiths

Over the lip of the little dell, on the side away from the hill, they felt, rather than saw, a shadow rise, one shadow or more than one. They strained their eyes, and the shadows seemed to grow. Soon there could be no doubt:three or four tall black figures were standing there on the slope, looking down on them. So black were they that they seemed like black holes in the deep shade behind them. Frodo thought that he heard a faint hiss as of venomous breath and felt a thin piercing chill. Then the shapes slowly advanced.

Introduction

Once nine great Kings of Men, they were all given Rings of Power. The Nine took them, and became slaves of Sauron, and later his chief lieutenants, once he assumed control via his newly forged One Ring. After a time the effect of the rings left the kings spectral, invisible to all but those who could see into the wraith world (such as high elves or the bearer of the One Ring). Their rings were forged c. SA 1500.

Only two of the Nine were ever named: the Witch-king of Angmar and Khamûl the Easterling.

During the Second Age of Middle-earth the Elven-smiths of Eregion forged the Rings of Power, but Sauron took most of them and gave nine to "proud and great" Men. For many years the nine men used these rings, which gained them great wealth, prestige and power. However, the effect of the rings made their bodily forms fade over time until they had become wraiths entirely, and served only the Dark Lord Sauron.

These Nine were first seen around 2251 of the Second Age, and soon became established as Sauron's primary servants, though they were temporarily dispersed after Sauron's downfall in SA 3434 during the war of Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

Because the ruling Ring was not destroyed, the Nazgûl re-emerged around 1300 of the Third Age. It was around this time that the Witch-king of Angmar launched attacks against the nearby kingdom of Arnor. The first target was the realm of Rhudaur. After conquering Rhudaur and replacing the Dúnedain king with one of the native Hillmen in the year TA 1356 the Witch-king moved against Arthedain, resulting in the death of King Argeleb I.

But Arthedain was not yet defeated, for it still managed to maintain a line of defense along the Weather Hills. In TA 1409 came the attack on Cardolan. Also during this time, the forces of the Witch-king burned and destroyed the watchtower of Amon Sûl. After the fall of Cardolan, Angmar's advance was slowed by resistance from the elves of Lindon and Rivendell. By TA 1974, Angmar arose again and captured Arthedain's capital of Fornost, and with that the last kingdom of Arnor was destroyed.

A year later, a prince of Gondor named Eärnur arrived with the intention of aiding Arthedain.

Discovering that he was too late, he and his army marched against the forces of the Witch-king, utterly destroying them at the Battle of Fornost. The Witch-king escaped and retreated to Mordor, Angmar having served its purpose. At some point, the Barrow-wights left Angmar and Rhudaur to occupy the Barrow-downs of Cardolan. Upon his return to Mordor, the Witch-king gathered the other eight Nazgûl. In the year TA 2000 the Nazgûl attacked, and after two years conquered Minas Ithil (which was renamed Minas Morgul), acquiring a Palantír for their Dark Master.

It was from Minas Morgul that the Nine directed the rebuilding of Sauron's armies and the preparation of Mordor for their master's return. In 2942 Sauron returned to Mordor, openly declaring himself by TA 2951. He sent three of the Nazgûl to garrison his fortress Dol Guldur in Mirkwood. They were led by Khamûl, the second most powerful of the Nazgûl behind the Witch-King.

The Cloaks

As the model is first undercoated in Abaddon Black you would think that would all there would be to do, but you still need to add layers of colour to black. First add highlights of Coat d'Arms Slate Grey and then on the edges a light highlight of Dawnstone as this represents fraying of the material. A wash of Nuln Oil was applied all over the cloak.

Gauntlets, Boots and Weapons

Any metal work was basecoated in leadbelcher then highlighted in Ironbreaker and finally with Runefang Steel. A wash of Nuln Oil was then applied over all metal areas.

Weathering

At the bottom of the cloak I added patches of Rhinox Hide, then moving towards the end Mournfang Brown and then Graveyard Earth to represent the cloak being dragged in muddy puddles and the like.

Horses

The Ringwraith horses are painted brown or black and so for black are painted a similar manner to the cloaks just leaving out the Dawnstone stage (do horses fray?). For brown they are painted Rhinox Hide and then washed with Brown Ink. I wanted to keep it a really dark brown so avoided any lighter highlights.

The horses are covered in wounds so these and their eyes were picked out with Wazdakka Red. The teeth were painted White Scar then washed with Nuln Oil.

The tails and manes were basecoated in Abaddon Black you and highlighted with Coat d'Arms Slate Grey.

The metal work was painted in the same way as the metal on the Ringwraith model.